Soldiers practised finding bombs in a 'sand pit' - after begging for their own mine detection training

Concerned comrades of the first female British soldier killed in Afghanistan were forced to practise finding mines in a 'sand pit', an inquest heard yesterday.

Troops had to beg for training and expressed concerns about the failure rate of the 'flimsy' Ebex mine detectors they were issued with before Corporal Sarah Bryant and three SAS reservists were blown up.

A British soldier uses a metal detector to search for landmines in Afghanistan. An inquest into Corporal Sarah Bryant's death heard that troops had to ask for their own mine detection training

Yesterday, the inquest into their deaths was told that troops had received no formal training with the high-tech detectors until two-thirds into their six-month tour of duty, and only then when they organised it themselves.

A special forces serviceman, identified only as Soldier K, said troops resorted to finding an explosives expert at their base to teach them how to operate the devices.

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The soldier, who was in another vehicle in the convoy when Cpl Bryant and her colleagues were killed, said he initially received only '20 to 30 minutes' briefing on the Ebex without actually handling one of them.

Soldier K told the inquest: 'When I got to theatre [of war] after about three weeks some Ebexes were supplied to use. We didn't have any training on them. I didn't personally have any hands-on.

Corporal Sarah Bryant, 26, was the first female soldier to be killed in Afghanistan

'Later on in the tour in Lashkar Gah we were concerned with our lack of training and spoke to an explosives specialist, who was based at the same camp as us, who organised some training for us.

'He had a kind of lane, like a sand pit, where you could bury objects and practise detecting them.

'We also arranged official training back at Camp Bastion, which we undertook, at the same time, about four months into the tour.

'We had to request it. It didn't happen until April. It didn't happen on our reception training.'

Major Harry Clark, of the 5th Battalion The Royal Scots, an officer working alongside the specialist teams patrolling the roads outside Lashkar Gah, said he had concerns about the shortage of bomb-detectors.

He said: 'I was not comfortable that we had the ideal number of Ebex metal detectors.

'In my view, two Ebex per manoeuvre group was ideal. Sometimes we had to resort to one Ebex per group and even then the equipment could fail.

'I had significant equipment failure with breakages across the stock. Ebex themselves are liable to break down. The equipment is not robust enough to manage being hauled in and out of vehicles.

'As it became prone to failure it did not encourage people to use them.'

The inquest in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, has already heard that the use of Snatch Land Rovers - dubbed 'mobile coffins' because of their vulnerability - had been 'met with disbelief' by the patrols.

Soldier I, a special forces corporal in the convoy containing Cpl Bryant, criticised the vehicle.

He said: 'The Snatch is not a great vehicle. It is not mobile or agile enough. It is too heavy and for its size it is top heavy as well.'

If the soldiers had been in a lighter vehicle, they would have been able to go around the path containing the hidden IED, he said.

The hearing continues.

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Soldiers 'had to request mine detection training and then practised finding bombs in a sand pit'